Kino-circus / Cinema Circus (1942) animated cartoon

‘Kino-Circus’ (also called Cinema Circus) is the most inspired of the anti-fascist war propaganda cartoons made in the Soviet Union.

The short is called ‘a cartoon satire in three acts’ and features a Charlie Chaplin-like character, who introduces us to three staged satires, all featuring Adolf Hitler:

In the first, ‘Adolf the dog trainer and his pooches’, Hitler throws a bone at his three dogs, Benito Mussolini, Miklós Horthy and Ion Antonescu, the leaders of his allies Italy, Hungary and Romania, respectively.

In the second, ‘Hitler visits Napoleon’, Hitler asks Napoleon’s tomb for advice, but the deceased drags him into the tomb. It’s the most prophetic of the three, for indeed both Napoleon and Hitler were defeated in Russia.

In the third, ‘Adolf the juggler on powder kegs’, Hitler juggles with several burning torches on a pile of powder-barrels, representing the countries he has occupied. When he accidentally drops one of the torches, the barrels explode. The animation is particularly silly in this sequence and a delight to watch.

Kino-circus / Cinema Circus (1942) animated cartoon

Genre: Animation
Production Co: Soyuzmultfilm

Directed by Leonid Amalrik, Olga Khodatayeva
Writing Credits: Leonid Amalrik, Konstantin Gavryushin, Olga Khodatayeva, N. Kopyevsky, Nikolay Volkov
Music by A. Aksenov
Cinematography by Boris Titov, Nikolay Voinov
Sound Department: N. Gunger, Viktor Kotov
Animation Department: Leonid Amalrik, Nikolai Khodataev, Olga Khodatayeva, Nadezhda Privalova, Boris Titov